One of the results of becoming am amateur photographer is the desire to hike. While we have been campground campers since our children were little and enjoyed that, I never really hiked for more then 2 or 3 hours. One reason was fear - of bears, snakes, being lost, sudden rain storms, of darkness. Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. It can keep us from doing stupid things. So my fear of hiking to new places and longer distances has helped me be more prepared with a good first aid kit, a compass, a security whistle, and trail guides. But fear still creeps in and keeps me going back to safe places, hikes I have done before and have learned.

Conquering fear is not an easy thing. That is why we see courage as a desirable trait. A sense of security develops courage in us. We can face fear because we are secure in God's love for us. I John 4:16-19 tells of God's perfect love and how it conquers fear.

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us."

The more we know God, spend time with him, listen to him, the more we trust in his love. And I think that the more we trust, the more beauty we see. I want to keep on hiking so that I can see God's beauty along the path. And I want to keep only spending time with God, learning to trust him and really know the perfect love that conquers fear.

On a recent trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway we discovered Craggy Gardens. At the visitor center I asked the ranger about the hike and what we would see. She explained that the short hike went to a bald with rhododendron. She explained that since we were at such a high elevation that there was always a pretty strong wind and as a result there were no tall trees. The trees had to be short and strong to withstand the wind. This tree was the tallest tree on the bald, and I think if you look closely at the grass you can get a feel for how windy it was.

The winds shape the trees and they flourish and are made stronger. Their roots must grow deep so they can stand. As they grow they become thicker instead of taller. There is a beauty to the curves of the trees shaped by the wind. And in the spring the rhododendron's bloom and the bald is covered in pink.

We also face strong winds in our lives, but we grow sturdy only when we put our roots deep in God's word. And just like the rhododendron that withstand the wind and bloom in spring, God will use the strong winds we face to bring beauty to our lives. I am reminded of Paul's words to the Christians in Colossi about developing strong roots: Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly; teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

Author

I am a daughter, a wife, a mother and now a grandmother. I am wonderfully loved first by Jesus Christ then by two wonderful parents, three sisters and their families, a special husband, two extraordinary children and a wonderful son in law and daughter in law, two new grandsons, and dear Christian friends. I seek now to serve Christ in new ways in my retirement!